


Cause and Effect

by Strange_Hearts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Dumbledore Bashing, Ginny Bashing, Molly Weasley Bashing, Original Character(s), Other, Out of Character, Possible Harmony, Possible Luna/Harry, Possible Lunar Harmony, Ron Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 03:39:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strange_Hearts/pseuds/Strange_Hearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>Harry wasn't the only student that Umbridge tortured in detention.  However, unlike Harry, this student isn't willing to keep silent about it, and their actions cause an effect so big that it helps change Magical Britain for the better</b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Telling the World

**Author's Note:**

> **_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._ **

The corridors were silent, empty of the students that usually graced it during the light of day. In fact, due to the hour, most of the castle was silent, the common rooms almost completely empty of students, almost all of which were tucked into their beds, falling asleep if they weren't already sleeping.

However, there was one girl who wasn't sleeping, or even in bed about to fall asleep. Instead, this girl had just arrived in her common room, due to the fact that she'd just had detention with one of her teachers. There was glassy sheen over her eyes, suggesting that she was trying not to cry.

 _That stupid bitch_ she thought as she made her way over to one of the chairs near the fireplace. Her left hand – her writing hand – throbbed in pain. She looked down at it, seeing the words _I will not tell lies_ carved into the skin, inflamed and slightly bloody. She read the words over and over again, along with remembering what had caused the need for them to be there to begin with – expressing her opinion that Harry Potter was not lying about Voldemort's return, pointing out that he'd be the last person to proclaim it without it being true.

Professor Umbridge – also known as Umbitch to the majority of the students – had overhead, and had unfairly assigned her detention for saying that. She wasn't sure what to think about that, since she hadn't heard a word of what went on there, other than they had to write lines, but that very night, she learned what it was that Umbitch was doing, the result of which was on her hand.

A wave of anger ran through her. What it was that Umbitch was doing was nothing short of torture, and, without another thought, she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. Within moments, she had finished quilling her letters. There was one to her father, one to the editor of the _Daily Prophet_ , another to the new Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, and a final one to her head of house, which was her uncle. She chuckled to herself as she thought about what Umbitch's reaction would be when her head of house showed her the error of her ways. After all, she was Isobel Trisvinaté, of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Trisvinaté. And, while the other Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses with heirs – or heads, as Harry technically was – in the school didn't seem to be doing anything – then again, from what she saw, Harry didn't seem to show a sign of what knowing his heritage – she wasn't going to be like them.

However, remembering who backed Umbitch up, Isobel knew that she would need more than to just tell her head of house. Having learned of how things were often swept under the rug at the Ministry, and also knowing that Fudge would make sure that what she had to say would never see daylight – and he wasn't above going over his station to do so – Isobel knew that she would have to employ every inch of the Slytherin that the Sorting Hat had sensed in her in order to get what she needed to get done. And she could hardly wait to see the results of her work when they came to be. More than that, though, knowing what would happen once it became known what Umbitch had done to her, was the fact Umbitch would get her just desserts.

 _I cannot wait to see that bitch put in jail, where worthless beings like her belong_ she thought as she sealed her letter up, and called her personal elf to her. After all, she wanted the letters to get to where they needed to, not be found by Umbitch. Then, dreaming of what the consequences to Umbitch would be, she fell asleep, a happy smile on her face.


	2. An Editor's Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **The reaction of a _Daily Prophet_ Editor/Journalist who actually wants to tell the truth instead of lies...**

Lisa Lords, an editor at the _Daily Prophet_ , sighed as she was once again forced to post yet another story about Dumbledore and Harry Potter. She desperately wished that there was something more newsworthy to be allowed to be printed, but knew that, until the Minister – who was leaning heavily on her – got over his little hissy fit, she had to make sure that everything printed was against Dumbledore and Harry Potter, while being for him. Of course, thankfully, she wasn't completely muzzled against tell truthful news, for she didn't think anything said about the two was actually true – neither of them had so much as tried to do what they were being accused of, but then, when one's already being called the worse minister ever, she could see why Fudge would do what he's doing. Of course, like any reporter, she couldn't wait until his attempts blew up into his face, and was more than prepared to make it even worse when that happened. It would be payback for what he was forcing her to do, for everything he had forced her to do, as Rita Skeeter would have never made it onto her staff if he hadn't made it so that she could.

What had her even madder, though, was the fact that, having known Dumbledore back when he was still a teacher, she knew that what she was being forced to say about him was hogswash. All one had to do was see how he was when school started; there was nothing that he wanted more than to pass on knowledge. But no, Fudge – who seemed to think that he could make everyone think this about Dumbledore – had gone off the deep wall, all because Dumbledore – who would have no reason to lie about it – had said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back; yes, she knew about that, for her granddaughter had told her. While she wasn't completely sure about it, she was more likely to believe it because of the fact that Dumbledore would have said it if it didn't have a grain of truth to it.

At least she was allowed to have somethings not screened by him in the paper. And, of course, by that, she meant that anything written that didn't concern Fudge, his department, or anyone like the Malfoys. Shaking her head, she couldn't help but think that Fudge was an idiot for being so close to a death eater – and she knew for a fact that Malfoy was one, as he had been the one to kill her children during the war, a fact that he had no problem bringing up, in subtle ways.

As she read through the latest story handed to her, she was surprised when an elf popped up beside her, handing her a letter before popping back out. It was surprising because, other than _Prophet_ elves, she hardly ever got letters from any elves. What was even stranger, though, was how well dressed and kept this elf was. It had on a uniform, not quite made of clothes, but definitely not a pillowcase or anything of the likes as she normally saw.

Shaking her head she picked up the letter that the creature had left, eyes widening as she read whom it was from. The Ancient and Noble house of Trisvinaté was one of those houses whom everyone had to pay respect to, no matter of personal opinion. Not even the Minister would dare to cross the house, unless he got bad information from Malfoy to do it, which, thinking about it, Lisa had the feeling that he would eventually.

Opening the letter, her eyes widened upon seeing the contents. Biting her lip, she wondered if she could get away with doing this, but then, coming to the part in the letter mentioning that she'd sent it to quite a few people, including governments such as the head of the DMLE and the new head of the ICW (though Lisa couldn't understand why she'd send one to them) meant that she didn't really have to print out the letter. Still, she had the feeling that she needed to, if only to show that Isobel wasn't right in labeling her a coward if she didn't do it.

The problem would be doing this in a way to keep the minister from not keeping the letter from being seen. She was a bit thankful to know that it couldn't be added to the prophet just yet, as it would help give her time to decide how to approach this. She'd hopefully come up with an idea for the next _Prophet_ edition the coming day. She spent the entire morning wondering about it when her assistant, Mandy, came into the room, eyes wide and looking harried.

"Have you heard?" Mandy said, then she saw the letter in Lisa's hand. "You got one as well?"

"What's going on?" Lisa asked. "And of course I got one, everyone did."

"Apparently, Fudge has been sent quite a few letters and Howlers, all asking for his resignation," Mandy shared. Lisa's own eyes widened.

"Really?" Lisa asked, not needing to know why. The answer for that one was already in her hands after all.

"Really," Mandy stated. "Apparently the fact that Umbridge was appointed by him and what the letter mentioned about how he'd most likely not do anything to have her punished had an effect of people declaring him to be a useless Minister who just had to go now."

Lisa looked at her, then at the letter in her hand.

"Get Laura up here, now," she finally said, looking up at Mandy. "And have the pressers ready. We're going to be sending out a special edition today."

"Understood," Mandy stated, hurrying from the room. Lisa looked at the letter in her hand, and then smiled as she placed it down onto her desk. Gathering her quill and parchment, she headed to the Ministry, hoping to be able to know what was going on there, as well as get some quotes from the Minister, and, perhaps, Umbridge as well, if she was there – which, truthfully, Lisa expected her to be.


	3. Special Evening Edition of the Daily Prophet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **A special edition of the _Daily Prophet_ has an interesting article that generates a ripple of interest among the students of Hogwarts...**

Confusion rang through the Great Hall as dinner came around. People were looking up towards the staff table, which was missing Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and the toad, as most of the school thought of her as. There was something strange going on, they just new it. After all, why else would the toad, and the three professors be missing, as they had been for most of the day.

"What do you think has happened?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione stated. "But I truly hope that it's nothing bad."

"Well, I wouldn't hope for that too much. After all, if we're lucky, something might have happened to the toad," Ron said. Hermione didn't even scowl at the thought of something happening to her. After the first three classes with her, Hermione did not consider her a teacher, and, therefore, labeled her the same way she had Trelawney – a waste of space in the castle.

"What I want to know is what were aurors doing here earlier," Hermione told them, remembering the several whom they had all seen before they were sent to their common rooms for the morning instead of to their classes. They'd been let out at lunch, but had seen no sign of the aurors at that point, and all had been pretty much quiet.

"I wonder about that as well," Harry stated, but, before he could continue speaking, there was a loud screech as, for the first time since he'd been at the school, hundreds of owls made their way into the hall, going to every student there and dropping off a rolled up copy of what looked like an edition of the Daily Prophet. Confusion rang out once again as the owls made their way out. What was going on?

Hermione, like several other students, snatched the newspaper, unfolding it to see that it was a special edition paper. She read the story, gasping upon seeing what it was.

"Listen to this," she order Harry and Ron, giving them a look suggesting that they better listen.

_**Delores Jane Umbridge: Outstanding Citizen or Child Torturer?** _

_This very morning, I received a very concerning letter from_   
_one of the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and_   
_Wizardry. In this letter, the student expressed her concern_   
_over the actions of Ms. Umbridge, describing what a single_   
_episode of detention they had with the madam. They_   
_informed me of the fact that Ms. Umbridge had them write_   
_lines repeatedly, until their hands hurt to the point of being_   
_unable to use it. While not completely alarming, as writing_   
_lines is a typical punishment at Hogwarts, and some teachers_   
_haven't caused hands to hurt from excessive writing in the_   
_past, this time, the knowledge of the hands hurting was, as_   
_the main point of the letter was the fact that Ms. Umbridge_   
_wasn't using a regular quill, but a Blood Quill!_

_As any wizarding citizen aware of the law knows, the use of_   
_a Blood Quill is restricted only to blood required contracts –_   
_in which a Gringotts representative must be present to witness_   
_– and is forbidden to be used in any other way. A standard_   
_five year sentence is carried for the mere possession of owning_   
_a single Blood Quill, the sentence being added to for each_   
_additionally owned Blood Quill a person has. On top of that_   
_sentencing, an additional sentence is carried should the Quills_   
_be used without the supervisions of a Gringotts representative,_   
_ten years per adult it was used on, and fifteen for every child._

_I have confirmation that Madam Amelia Bones of the Department_   
_of Magical Law Enforcement has begun to look into this matter,_   
_to discover if there is any basis to the accusations, though_   
_Minister Fudge has reportedly been less than helpful with_   
_the pushing for an investigation, as he has apparently tried_   
_to order Madam Bones 'not to bother investigating this nonsense_   
_when it is more important to search for the culprit of these_   
_baseless lies.'_

_When asked for a comment, Madam Umbridge had this to say_   
_about accusation: "I do not know which student it was that has_   
_decided to spread these lies about me, but I assure you that I_   
_have not done anything against the law. This is merely the_   
_words of a disgruntled student who is accepting their detention_   
_in a poor grace. Truthfully, as I have an idea of which student it_   
_is, I'm sure everyone can agree with me when I saw that it's just_   
_another lie from them, as they just want the attention."_

_Minister Fudge also had a comment to this outrage. "Ms. Delores_   
_Umbridge is an upstanding citizen whom is a valuable member of_   
_our society. That these baseless accusations are being made_   
_against her is completely horrid, and the student who is spreading_   
_these lies will be facing consequences."_

_Minister Fudge is not the only one who commented to the outrage._   
_Outstanding citizen Lucius Malfoy also had this to say: "Minister_   
_Fudge is correct in saying that Ms. Delores Umbridge is an_   
_upstanding citizen to our world. To see someone not only try to_   
_drag her good name through the mud, but at the words of a_   
_disgruntled student, well, it's completely horrible, and makes me_   
_wonder how our wonderful world could become so turned about to_   
_even suggest believing these lies."_

_More will be known once the findings of Madam Bone's team are known._

_**For the contents of the letter given to me, continued on Page 5** _

"Wow," Harry stated, grabbing his own copy of the paper, and flipping to look at the letter. It wasn't really long, and just said the main points that had been mentioned in the article, though he somehow got the feeling that there was something missing as well; well, besides the name, which looked as though it hadn't been written at all.

"I think it's safe to say that Umbitch is thinking that you're the one who sent the letter," Hermione stated. "Of course, considering the fact that you refuse to bring it to anyone's attention, I think it's safe to say that you didn't do it."

"No, I didn't," Harry stated. His eyes returned to the part about the Blood Quills being illegal. Besides it was a picture of what one looked like, and he recognized it immediately.

"Yup, that's definitely the quill she used on me," Harry stated. "I wonder who decided to tell on her."

"Whoever it is, they probably know the law pretty well," Hermione said. "I mean, I didn't know this, otherwise, I would have insisted that you send Madam Bones a letter about your detentions, whether you wanted to or not."

"I wonder what'll be said tomorrow," Harry stated, though he suspected that it would just be swept under the rug, doubting that Fudge would let anything happen to his pet bitch.

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow," Hermione stated.

* * *

Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough, but it finally did come. Harry and Hermione were among the first up – Ron choosing to stay in bed, as it was a Saurday – and they went down to the Great Hall, noticing that they weren't the only ones who had gone there early. They made their ways to the first seats at the Gryffindor table they could get, ending up next to the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet. Angelina Johnson appeared just then, coming and taking the empty seat next to Hermione while Neville, who had followed her, took the one across from Harry. More and more people came down, wanting to know what news would be coming this day from the Prophet, while those there were waiting patiently. Harry noticed, though, that those who were coming down earlier were ones with access to the Daily Prophet.

By the time the remaining two Weasleys came back down, the tables were packed, and they were forced to sit at the other end, away from Harry and Hermione, who were busy talking with each other, not realizing that they'd even come into the room, much to the disgruntlement of the two.

"There here," Angelina suddenly said, her eyes having been scanning the windows every few moments. Almost as one, they all looked up, just in time to see a progresson of owls heading towards many people. Harry and Hermione both snagged their copies of the _Daily Prophet_ , while Alicia, Neville, and Angelina did the same. Fred and George both looked over the shoulders of the closet people next to them as they read the headlines.

_**The Auror's Findings: Umbridge Definitely Guilty** _

_As everyone knows, yesterday a letter was received by the  
_ Daily Prophet _about an accusation of Madam Delores Umbridge_  
 _using Blood Quills on students assigned detention by her._  
 _Despite the objections of Minister Fudge, Madam Amelia Bones,_  
 _with several trusted Aurors investigated the accusations, and,_  
 _much to the surprise of the Minister, discovered a box holding_  
 _thirty Blood Quills in her quarters. When Madam Umbridge and_  
 _Minister Fudge were informed of the discovery, she attempted_  
 _to say that she was being framed, saying that a students must_  
 _have snuck into her office to plant the box as evidence after_  
 _learning of what she was being accused of. This statement_  
 _was quickly revealed to be a lie after the mention that her wand_  
 _signature being the only signature found on the security of the_  
 _box, as well as the fact that where they found it was in her actual_  
 _quarters, not her office as she said. The fact that she was the_  
 _only one aware of where her quarters were – a fact made known_  
 _upon her own mention if it – sealed the deal of her attempts to lie._

_It was also evident that Madam Umbridge had indeed used the quills,_   
_as one of the aurors had found papers of the lines written by the_   
_students next to the box, as well as hints of blood upon the tips of_   
_several of the quills. With this overwhelming evidence, Madam_   
_Umbridge was quickly removed from her positions of Undersecretary_   
_of the Minister and as the Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts_   
_at Hogwarts, as well as arrested. She was taken to a holding box within_   
_the Ministry, where she will await trial, scheduled to take place in a few_   
_days. It is strongly implied that Vericteserum (Truth Potion) will play part_   
_in her trial, as she had lied in the past and the charges against her are_   
_too high not to have it._

_When asked to comment, neither Minister Fudge nor Lucius Malfoy_   
_has anything to say about having been proven wrong about Madam_   
_Umbridge, a strange fact when one considers their adamant support_   
_about her having been an 'upstanding citizen' in their previous statements._

_As for the students who have had detention with her, it is also implied that_   
_they will each have to appear in front of Madam Bones for a short interview,_   
_which will probably be used in court as well. Whether they themselves will_   
_appear in court as well is not known at the moment._

At that moment, as the reveal of the sacking of Umbridge was known, loud cheers could be heard from almost the entire school. The only ones not cheering were the Slytherins, who had enjoyed the idea of the Mudbloods and half-bloods being put into their place by her, as most of them had realized was happening within the first few assigned detentions from her. The Slytherins most upset over this change was Malfoy and his crew, who knew that the plans his father had originally suggested happen would no longer be happening.

Once everyone had called down, they looked at the next front page article.

_**Cornelius Oswald Fudge: Will He Be Minister Much Longer?** _

_In a strange twist, this very morning, the office of the Minster of Magic_   
_was undulated with many letters, most demanding proper investigation_   
_into the Delores Umbridge matter, an investigation that he still attempted_   
_to keep from happening. Also mixed in with these letters were demands_   
_that the man resign from the position, stating that he'd become useless,_   
_and didn't care about any of the Hogwarts students, and was just as guilty_   
_as Umbridge was in torturing them. As he clearly wasn't for the_   
_investigation happening,one does wonder if he was ignorant, or knew_   
_that it was true and really didn't care about the students, so long as those_   
_he wanted tortured were._

_As one can imagine, once word spread about the the guilt of Madam_   
_Umbridge, the letters calling for his resignation doubled, and included more_   
_than one Howler. The general consensus was clear in that many did not_   
_have any faith in him anymore, and wished for his immediate removal of_   
_the Minister of Magic post – a demand, one must note, that has not happened_   
_since 1745, when the Minister of Magic at the time was discovered to have_   
_been taking bribes from various other families around, and removed by force_   
_from the position after refusing to do so, despite the demands of the Wizengamot_   
_and everyone else. It is clear that Fudge has to be one of the worse Ministers_   
_to have such a demand made when compared to the Minister of 1745._

_When asked to comment about this, Minister Fudge refused to do so,  
seeming to not have anything to say on the matter._

_Madam Bones, however, did have something to say on the matter:_   
_"I've told the Minister for years that some of his actions would eventually_   
_result in what has happened, and I, for one, will not fight for him should_   
_the Wizengamot decide to remove him from his post. He is a weak man,_   
_easily manipulated by others, and petty if someone has more fame than_   
_him and isn't on his side. We have need of a minister who will not be_   
_manipulated, and who is willing to do what is right instead of what seems_   
_easy. We also need one that is above doing such petty actions that_   
_Minister Fudge has done."_

_As for Minister Fudge, with the troubles he is now, we here at the  
_ Prophet _hearby stated that we hope that he will resign with whatever_  
 _little bit of grace he has left, before he actually is booted from the office,_  
 _as I do not believe anyone will willingly let him keep the office. I know,_  
 _if it was up to me, I wouldn't, as I could not, in good faith, keep someone_  
 _who called a child torturer an 'upstanding citizen' in that office._

"Oh, wow," Harry said, turning to look at Hermione.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"I think changes are coming, big changes," she answered, unaware of just how right she was about that. She just didn't know when these changes would take place – no one did.


	4. Act of 1112 – The New Minister Placed

Unaware of the fact that the _Daily Prophet_ had gone out that morning, and had spelled his own doom within it, Minister Fudge, unwilling to actually give up his position due to the fact that he liked the power a bit too much, was trying to figure out a way to salvage his career. He was just about to call Malfoy – considering the fact that he would most likely help, the upstanding citizen that he was in Fudge's mind – when several people barged into his office. He paled upon seeing the official robes they wore, the ICW sign on every single one of them. Though he didn't know what they were there for, he couldn't imagine any senario with them being there being good. Seeing that Dumbledore's replacement as a member of the body just had him more nervous, based on the expression the man had on his face.

However, despite all this, he still did his best to appear collected. He was still Minister, after all, and dammit, they weren't going to take the position from him.

"May I help you?" he stated coolly, standing up. His posture stated that he had no time for them, and that he wished them to leave. However, they didn't. Instead, the lead member stepped forward.

"Minister Fudge, under the ICW Act of 1112, you are hearby removed from your position as Minister," the man said, his voice deep. "This decision is final, and will not be change. You may grab anything you wish, so long as it doesn't have to do with the position, within the next two minutes before you are escorted from the building. Should you wish to protest this ruling and fight, you will be stunned and taken to a holding cell, where you will wait until your replacement has decided on what to do with you."

"Now see here, you can't do this," Fudge stated.

"Actually, we can," the man said. "As the Act of 1112 states, 'Should the members of the ICW believe that one of the nations within it's banner is becoming low in standards, or is in need of new leadership, if an unanimous vote is in favor of it, the ICW may chose a member to take the place of the head of all government offices, and do as they wish to bring the wayward country back into the standards needed.' In all honesty, this has been something that we have been waiting to do in ages, but have been unable to do since Dumbledore, who – as head at the time – had to be present for the vote, and could have kept this from happening. However, as you had him removed from his positions, he is unable to continue on as the head of our governing body, which mean he cannot stop this from happen. Congradulations, by the way, due to your stupidity, we are able to do this.

"Now, as stated before, you have two minutes to grab any personal items before you are escorted from the building."

"No!" Fudge stated, reaching for his wand. Unfortunately for him, he was in the room with witches and wizards far superior to him in every way. Before he could even grab his wand, he was petrified, bound, and hanging upside down as one of the robed people walked forward. She threw back the hood she wore, revealing a very beautiful young woman with light blonde hair pulled back into a high braided bun, decorated with something silver that wrapped around it. She had ice blue eyes, red pouty lips, and very pale skin. She held her wand in her hand,and sneered at him as she walked over to the desk, a bag he hadn't noticed at first swinging from her shoulder.

Looking around on it, she seemed to find what it was that she was looking for, giving the rest of the entourage a look after locating what she wanted.

"Oh," the man suddenly said, while several members of the entourage walked to the fireplace, with all but two of the rest walking out of the room. "I suppose I should introduce you to your replacement. This is Tristelianna Haliwell, the new Minister of Magic of Britain. She will be keeping the post until we are happy with whatever changes are implicated here." He turned to look at her. "Good luck," he said, before leaving the building from the floo. Once he was gone, the woman ficked her wand, and Fudge went sailing towards the two others that were left in the room, and straightened.

He was now able to see what it was that she had been looking for, and watched as she placed her wand against the rune that would allow her to control the entire ministry building.

"Close all exits. No one is to leave, though people are still allowed to enter though any of the main entrances and exits. No letters are to leave the building – only those that are to even go anywhere after being written are those that go straight through to another department without leaving the building. No one is allowed to use the private Minister's floo except for those who know the passwords, _The light is blinding, the dark is binding, but balance of both is the true key of power_ ," she said, removing the wand to place it against another rune. "Send immediate messages to all ministry official not here: They are to come to the Ministry building immediately, no delay."

Once that was done, she removed her wand once again.

"Direct him to a holding cell, and bring me the head of the DMLE while your at it," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," the two said, pulling out their wands and causing Fudge to float slightly.

"Oh, and have Miranda and Logan come in. I want to speak to them," she said to their backs.

"Yes, ma'am," the two said again, and Fudge's last look of his office was his replacement beginning to under the top layer of the robes she wore.

* * *

Tristelianna sighed as she finally started to remove the stuffy and heavy robes that were the official wear for ICW officials. Finally, she could get out of the cumbersome outfit. While it was required of her to wear it when doing ICW business – such as what she just went through – she would always prefer her usual outfit: dark colored corset over off the shoulder, tight, long sleeved blouse; black, leather-like pants that were loose in the legs; knee high, five inch chunky heeled boots that also had another two inches added due to platforming, that also had spikes dotting the platforming and heels; belt with gun holsters for the two Glocks she always carried as well as numerous knives she also carried everywhere; and long, black leather coat that would sweep the floor if she didn't have her boots on.

She wasn't really wearing that right now, though. Instead, she had on a red blouse with a sweetheart neckline, off-the-shoulders long sleeves that had a long panel cut out from just an inch of the top hem to just an inch from the bottom hem, with rope like fabric loosely lacing the sides. Another lace-up was present on the front of the blouse, right in the middle and going up to just underneath the bust area. Black bondage pants with silver chains, and shin high, five inch thin heeled black boots with a panel of red where they laced up were what she wore on the bottom half of her body. A custom made light robe with the ICW symbol on it was left on from all the other layers of the robes, opened to show her clothes off, and hanging loosely on her arm. A black rose, thick choker encircling her throat.

Once she'd dressed down to what she was comfortable with, she began looking over everything that was in the room, signing with disgust over the lack of any official things. With a wave of her wand, she had everything that didn't have to do with the job, but with being prideful, in the trash, lighting it with her wand to get rid of it. She then called any and all official items to her, such as laws that were being worked on and a list of all employees in the Ministry, including what offices they worked for. She frowned when she noticed that the list had some very disgusting notes on several of the names, as well as memos to fire certain people, the majority being people who were either non-purebloods or who didn't fully conform to what he believed they should do. The only one who didn't have a note to fire them was the head of the office of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, but considering that there was just him and one other in the office, it made sense. What didn't was the refusal to assign anyone else to that office, as well as the refusal to give the ones working there any more money, whether a larger paycheck, or overtime pay.

She pulled out a notebook from her bag, as well as a pen – really, she would only use quills, ink, and parchment under the most dire of circumstances with how useless they were. She began copying down the information of that paper in a more sedated fashion, leaving room for notes for each person, and then placing the original in a conjured up manila folder, which she then placed to the right of herself. She then went through the few law proposals waiting to go onto the floor, again being disgusted over the notes of some really good ideas for laws that should be implented. She recopied them in another notebook, conjured another manila folder, and placed the originals into it.

As that was it for any official business, she waved her wand around again, this time redecorating the office. The yellow and green colors disappeared, being replaced by walls of dark blue and floors of dark wood. Furniture made of dark wood appeared, such as a bookcase, desk, and several filing cabinets, labeled by major department per cabinet, and then offices of the departments per drawer. Opening one drawer showed manila folders just waiting to be used.

A comfortable desk chair of dark blue material, as well as two visitor's chairs that were slightly less comfortable appeared in front of the desk, near the entrance. Then, once down, she opened the door into the waiting room before the office, where some of the members of her group waited.

"Is Marian and Joshua back with Madam Bones yet?" she asked.

No, ma'am," one of her people, Liza, said.

"Make sure she's sent straight to my office when she gets here," Tristelianna said, sighing once more as she pulled the door closed. What she wouldn't give to be out, taking obscure jobs of finding human slave traffickers and putting two bullets through the heads of children killers. While not the most glamorous – even legal – job, Tristelianna was proud of her job in some way. She'd worked hard to get the reputation she had; she wouldn't let it go to waste. Of course, the fact that she really didn't have a choice but to obey the ICW's wants made it hard to actually stay with her preferred job. At least she could bring down bastards whose heads were so swollen with their supposedly superiority that it almost made doing what she was doing worth it.

"Ma'am," came Marian's voice, dragging her from her thoughts. She looked up to see Liza had opened the door, sticking her head into the room. "There here." She opened the door all the way, admitting Marian and Joshua into the room. They were followed by a stern looking woman with steel gray hair, fashioned into a severe chin cut, and wearing a monocle that Tristelianna knew was enchanted. The woman's eyes widened upon seeing her, immediately going to the symbol of her robe before looking at her.

"What's going on?" Amelia asked. "Why are you here? Why was Fudge led to one of the holding cells? How is it that none of my people can open his cell to let him out? Why is it that no one can leave, and why is it that no one can send any letters out?"

"I am here under the ICW Act of 1112. Madame Bones," Tristelianna said, interrupting her tirade. Amelia went pale. Unlike most others – including many of the department heads that had come complaining to her about not being able to get out, and those who had seen Fudge being escorted to a cell and were unable to get him out of it – Amelia knew well the laws and acts of the ICW. Thought most of Britain often forgot, the only reason why they were even allowed to be considered as a 'civilized' wizarding world was because of being a part of the ICW, which also meant that they were under these very laws and acts.

So, knowing this, as well as what the laws and acts were, Amelia knew exactly what this woman meant by that. She also knew that Fudge had to have completely screwed up badly for that particular act to be called.

Calmed now that she knew a bit of what was going on, she sat up straight in her chair. "How can I help you, Madame Minister?" she asked.

"Straight down to business then," Tristelianna said. "I had you called up here because, out of every other head of department, you are the only one who fits what I'm looking for. You're loyal, follow the laws, want justice done, and isn't one to take bribes, for any reason. Plus, that the head of the DMLE, you're the one I would want to see, anyway."

"Oh," Amelia stated.

"Yes, I definitely would have to see you," Tristelianna said, reaching into her pocket. "Of course, as I'm sure you can understand, I have to make sure of something before I being to speak."

Amelia nodded her head, accepting the conjured cup after watching Tristelianna pour several drops of an amethyst colored potion within it. She then drunk the what was in the goblet, feeling her mind cloud over as her eyes glazed up. Tristelianna, one sure that the potion had worked, grabbed a dicto-quill and two notebooks, the one she'd written all the names in, and an empty one, and placed the quill on it.

"October second, nineteen ninety-five, seven fifteen am. British Minister of Magic's office of the British Ministry of Magic. Interogator: ICW Act of 1112 Appointed Minister Tristelianna Constantine Anne Haliwell. Interviewee: Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Eve Bones," Tristelianna said, watching as the quill wrote it out. Once it was done, and had moved down to the next line.

"Full name," Tristelianna said, her eyes on both Amelia and the notebook that held her name and some personal information.

"Amelia Eve Bones," Amelia said.

"Age?" Tristelianna asked.

"Fifty-seven" Amelia answered.

"Current job, and years you've been in the position?"

"Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I've been in the position for almost three years."

"What led to you receiving the position?"

"Sirius Black's escape from prison."

"Have you ever accepted a bribe or knowingly let a member of your department accept a bribe without punishment?"

"No."

"Have you knowingly let or seen a Ministry worker accept a bribe without punishment?"

"No."

"Do you suspect that Ministry workers have accepted bribes, and not have the proof to bring them before court?"

"Yes."

"If I was to tell you that your laws are no longer in effect, and only those I come up with are, what would you say?"

"I'd hope that the laws you come with will be for making Britain better, and won't let criminals get away with their crimes."

"Final two questions: What do you think of Albus Dumbledore?"

"I think he believes that he's a god and Merlin reincarnated, and the the world has to follow his word. I also believe that he's been doing to many positions, and all have been suffering. I also think that he doesn't truly believe in equality for everyone, despite what he says, and lets any pureblood get away with whatever they want at the school."

"What do you think of Harry Potter?"

"I think what I've read about the boy and what my niece Susan says don't add up. From what I saw of him during his trial, I am more inclined to believe that what I've read about his is a lie, and that the boy lives in a less than ideal situation. He's not an attention seeker, but someone who happily live if he was never known to be famous. I also think that he'd do anything to keep those he cares for safe, even at the cost of his own life, which I sense he doesn't hold in that high of a regard."

"Thank you. Interview over at seven twenty-five," Tristelianna said, watching as the quill stopped writing at that as she waved her wand at Amelia.

Clarity returned to her as the potions were lifted.

"I take it that you got what you were looking for," Amelia stated, her eyes on the papers that Tristelianna had grabbed. She wanted as it was place in a manila folder – one of the few Muggle items she knew of well, and even used herself – before using her want to send it to one of the drawers, the one, Amelia saw, was labeled for her department.

"Yes," Tristelianna said. "Now, it's definitely time to get down to business. I am in need of five interrogation rooms. If there are not that many, I would like it if several of the courtrooms are set up to accomandate what's needed as well. I will also like you to acquire ten of your best, and most trusted, Aurors. If you don't have that many, or any at all, then bring me those you would trust more than the others.

"You may either send a letter straight to them, or have go and bring them up yourself. Either way you chose, just let it be known that the Minister wants them," Tristelianna said.

"I'll go down to bring them up," Amelia stated, already having an idea of who she wanted. Several of them had been those who had reported to her about Fudge, a fact that she knew they'd keep to themselves as she had instructed. Two of them were two that would most likely be working at their desks, and the rest, well, if they weren't here already, she could just send for them. No, wait, it wasn't that she could send for them; it was that she could easily wait for them to get in, already knowing about the letters that had gone out calling everyone into work.

She made her way to the Auror offices, seeing that they were pretty full, and cleared her throat, bringing her wand to it and casting a Sonorus Charm so that she could be heard.

"Attention," she called, snapping everyone out of their talking – and complaining – and causing them to turn about face to her. There were a few faces that seemed a bit mutinous, and she mentally made note of them, though she didn't let it stop her from continuing her speech.

"I know that some of you are curious as to why you were called into work today, as well as why you cannot leave at the moment. It will be explained later, but for right now, I am in need of these ten people," she said. "Lucy Atwater, Hayden Sky, Lilian Hurts, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Maria Locksley, William Winchester, Li Chan, Nymphadora Tonks, Ewan Gregor, and Natalie Gregor."

The ten she called all exchanged looks, wondering what they could be needed for, while several others were whispering to their neighbor, thinking that they were about to be fired, and what a good thing it was, too. Among those who thought they were going to be fired was several Death Eaters who had manage to avoid suspicious of being so in the previous war, and had hated having to work in this department with half-bloods and fifthly Mudbloods like those that made up that group. Believing that they were going to be fired, no one bothered attempting to put a listening spell on them.

Amelia led the out of the area, to the lift, where, to their surprise, she pressed the button for Minister's main floor, and swept her wand around them all.

"All right, now I have ask you all to come with me because the Minister has asked me to bring ten Aurors that I trusted or believed to be among my best, all of which you fit the category of one way or another. I do not know what the assignment you're going to be given is, however, having met with the Minister this morning, I have a feeling that it's going to be something you'll most likely enjoy doing," Amelia said.

Lucy, William, Ewan and Natalie all looked curious at her over hearing that. They'd been the ones to have seen the Minister being placed into one of the holding cells by a group of people baring robes with the official ICW signia on them, and had informed her about it. They knew that, unless a new minister was already in place – which they would have already heard about if that was true – there was no way she could have talked to him. Meanwhile, the others who weren't aware of this where wondering just what Fudge wanted with them, two of them looking slightly disgruntled at having to meet Fudge while also wondering what to tell Dumbledore about this mission, if they were told that they couldn't contact anyone once starting. They were sure that the headmaster would want to be aware of whatever new lunacy the Minister had come up with.

When they arrived on the minister's floor, they were surprised to see a bunch of black robed people lounging around, their backs to them as they talked amongst themselves. One that Lucy, William, Ewan, and Natalie all recognized as having been the one of the ones to bring the Minister to his current location, caught sight of them, and turned, opening the minister's door to lean his head in. No one knew what it was that was said between them, but the man soon stuck his head out of the room.

"If ya'll will make a line and go in one at a time, that would be appreciated," the man said.

Everyone's brows wrinkled, except for Amelia, who had been expecting this to happen.

"We will comply with what he Minister had decided," she said, surprising most of the group due to the ease in which she said that. Hayden, Lilian, Li, and Marian all knew of her dislike of the man, and the fact that, usually, she would have raised a stint over doing something like this. They were wondering and nervous for what ever it was that the madam wanted, but decided to still do as she asked without question.

"I'll go in first," Tonks said, her hair it's usual pink despite the fact that she was at work. She swallowed, walking over to the door.

"Just go right on in," the man that had opened it early to inform the Minister of their arrival said. She nodded, doing as he bid, and walked in, closing the door behind. When she turned, her mouth dropped open, for, instead of Minister Fudge, as she had expected, there was a woman sitting down behind the desk, a very pretty woman who was watching her with cold ice blue eyes.

"Name?" the woman asked.

"Tonks," she said, not bothering to say her first name. The woman raised an eye, but flipped a Muggle notebook in front of her open, to a page, where her name was printed out on at the top.

"Sit, please," the woman said, adding the last bit as though realize that she was being a bit rude with commanding her to do so. A bit out of sort, Tonks took a seat, surprised when she was handed a small shot glass with an amethyst colored drink in it – a potion, though what kind, she didn't know. She was unsure of what it was, and looked up at the woman with a confused look on her face.

"It's a truth potion, different than what you're probably used to, but more effective than that one," she said. "I'll be giving it to everyone that Amelia brought with her, because until I know that you are trustworthy, you will not find out why I had need of you."

Tonks nodded, calming down. She was glad that Dumbledore had insisted that they all take counter potions to truth potions. It mean that they could control what they said, which would allow them to be let in on certain circles so that they could get information that could be of use to the headmaster. So, with that thought, she took the potion, knowing that it wouldn't work. At least, that's what she thought until she felt it clouding her mind as it overrode the counter potions within her.

Tristelianna waiting, watching as the young woman's eyes glazed over as a light, powdery blue mist rose from her body, hovering in the air for a moment before dispensing. She turned to the dicto quill, positioning it upon a new sheaf of paper.

October second, nineteen ninety-five, seven fourty am. British Minister of Magic's office of the British Ministry of Magic. Interogator: ICW Act of 1112 Appointed Minister Tristelianna Constantine Anne Haliwell. Interviewee: Auror Nymphadora Cecila Tonks," she said, looking back at the pink haired Auror across from her.

"Full name?" she asked, starting with the same questions that she'd asked Amelia earlier. She went through the entire list of questions she'd asked Amelia, with the answers fitting the woman's profession and what was written in her personal file, something she hadn't expected to be changed. Her answers, with the exception of the change in profession, name, and age, were an exact carbon copy of Amelia's. At least, they were until she came to her last two questions.

"What do you think of Albus Dumbledore?" she asked.

"I think the man is a genius, and is willing to do whatever he needs to keep our world safe," Tonks answered. Tristelianna frowned, then let her face clear.

"What do you think of Harry Potter?" she asked.

"I think the boy's had so much shit thrown at him, in such a small amount of time, that it's a wonder that he's still polite and nice to people, though he is a bit moody. Of course, he's a teen, so I guess that's to be expected," Tonks said. Tristelianna nodded her head, then spoke, calling the interview to an end at seven fifty-five am. Waving her wand at Tonks just as the quill stopped moving, she watched at Tonks seemed to realize that her little counter potion to the main truth potion used in Britain hadn't worked.

Tonks mouth opened and shut several times, but she couldn't think of what to say. Truthfully, she wasn't even sure of what she'd say if she even could, especially after realizing that her counter potion hadn't worked. Luckily, it didn't appear that she really needed to talk.

"Well, Miss Tonks, it seems that you're rather lucky, and have passed my questioning with flying colors," the woman stated. "If you'll just inform the next person to come in, please. I assure you, the reason for you to be up here will become known once I've interviewed everyone."

Tonks nodded her head before standing and heading out the door. She knew that she had to let Kingsley know about whatever this potion was, to prepare him for it, but, as she crossed the thresh hold, Amelia, with the help one of the ICW people, had her placed a bit separately from the others, and, after another Auror went through the door, it was explained that everyone who came out would be sequestered from the others, so that they weren't called in again. Amelia, of course, didn't mention the fact that this was also so that anyone who wasn't what she thought they were going to be arrested.

* * *

Inside the room, Tristelianna met with the next person, offered them the potion – which they took willingly – and questioned them, a process she repeated several times. So far, everyone said whom they originally introduced themselves as, had all of their information correct, and, with the exception of Tonks, weren't all that hung up about Dumbledore. They all agreed that he was a great wizard, but they also felt this is 'you need to forgive' attitude was part of the problem why there were so many criminals roaming the street. She was also glad that, while they weren't sure they should be believe what was said about Harry Potter, they knew that they shouldn't make snap decisions about the boy, and give him the benefit of the doubt; this fact was usually followed by a comment from any of the aurors with children at Hogwarts that what their own children would mention about him never fit what they read about him in the _Daily Prophet_ , and it told them straight up that something was wrong.

Having finally finished the last interview, she looked over at the list she'd made. Out of the ten she'd met, there was only one whom she couldn't see herself trusting all that much, and certainly not anywhere near Dumbledore at the moment. She pursed her lips, then stood, grabbing her newest notebook, and walked out of the room, where her people, as well as Amelia and the ten auror's, were waiting.

"Okay, for those who do not know, I am the new Minister," she stated. "I am the Minister by the ICW Act of 1112, which basically states in simple terms that if a unanimous decision is made, the ICW can remove a Minister in one of the ICW countries and replace it with someone of their own choosing, who is then allowed to do anything they wish to whip the country into shape. In basic terms, this means that I am, for all purposes, a dictator, as I can pass and remove any law I chose, without going through any official channels.

"Now, as for why you're here, I have decided that my first act as Minister will be two fold. The first is that half of you will be staying here, paired with some of my people – in groups of three – and you will be interviewing every single employee here in the Ministry – I have confirmation that all employees have officially arrived. You will do your interviews office by office, and are not allowed to miss anyone, whether on accident or on purpose. You will each have a list of all those you'll need to go through, and are to check off each name once done with them. My people will run the interviews, and deal with anyone who...well, you'll see.

"As for the remaining five, you, with five more of my people, will go to Hogwarts, and gather information about all those whom had detention with Madam Umbridge. You will have a list of all names before you go, as I've already sent to of my people to interview her, and they should be back at any moment.

"I have already decided which five will do what, as well as which of my people will accompany which of the two groups."

She then read off a list in her hands. Tonks noticed that she and Kingsley were on opposite, and then learned that she was a part of the Ministry interviews, while Kingsley was on the team that would go to Hogwarts. She felt a bit relieved – at least one of them would be able to inform Dumbledore what was going on. Unfortunately for her, when the team going to Hogwarts – with the five ICW members following them – went into the Minister's office with her, she was unable to know that they were all required an oath that Dumbledore was only to know that they were there to interview the students who'd been in detention with Umbridge, and not mention anything about the ICW having a part in this. The ICW members would be wearing normal Auror robes, as the didn't want anyone knowing that the ICW was taking charge at the moment.

The five aurors – none of them, Kingsley included, being all that big of fans for Dumbledore – had no problem agreeing to that oath. They were then sent out of the office, told to use the Undersecretary's fireplace to floo to Three Broomsticks, and that Amelia would be going with them as the team leader. As they were leaving, Tristelianna opened the floo for only those eleven to be able to use, to leave and come back through. Then, after changing the communications options – anyone trying to warn friends of what was going on would be unable to – she left the office once more.


	5. Hogwarts Interviews

Amelia, with the rest of the group – which consisted of ICW members Miranda Jung, Victoria Liu, Tiffany Park, Christian Argeneau, and Lucern Notte – flooed to Three Broomsticks, parchment and dicto quills within the pockets of their robes. Straightening and dusting themselves off, they walked the slightly long way to the school, a look at the time making them realize that it was about lunchtime, which they considered to be a good thing. They were met inside by Filch, whose eyes widened upon seeing them all.

He didn't do anything as they swept past him, into the great hall where everyone was seating, having lunch. Dumbledore, upon noticing them, stood up, about to politely ask what they were doing there when Amelia spoke.

"As I'm sure you've read in the _Prophet_ , Delores Umbridge is awaiting trial. We are here because we need to interview all the students who had detention with her," Amelia said. "Your heads of houses can act as your advocates in this case, and you may have one friend with you while awaiting your interview, and in the room if you wish. However, I must warn you that if your friend is distractive, they will be asked to leave. And Professor Dumbledore, I am to advise you, by the Minister, that you are not allowed to sit in on any of these interviews, nor ask any of the students about them. Doing so will result in yourself facing a trial for interference, as you have no need to be butting into a DMLE investigation."

Dumbledore's mouth shut as he frowned, and Amelia had to keep a grin off of her face as she stood there, waiting to see if he'd say anything.

"You may use any room in the castle to conduct your interviews," he simply stated, sitting down while everyone looked at him, wondering about his behavior.

"Will the following students please make a line right in front of me. If you chose to bring a friend, please make sure that they are standing next to you," Amelia said, then pulled out a rolled parchment from her robes, beginning to read off the names. The school was pretty surprised over how many students had had detention, though they also noticed that there were very few purebloods in the bunch, and not a single Slytherin there as well.

Harry, upon hearing his name, stood, Hermione standing with him.

"I'm coming with you, and you cannot stop me," she told him, when he turned to ask her what she was doing. He thought about saying something, but decided that it wouldn't be worth it. He didn't notice Ron and Ginny's glares at Hermione and him as they went and lined up as the Minister had instructed. Harry noticed that he wasn't the only one who had a friend in the group – in fact, most of them did.

"If you will please follow me," Amelia said, and Harry suddenly noticed that, of the ten who had originally entered the area, only eight were still there. Harry wondered where the other two had gone, but followed along obediently with the others as they were led from the hall and into a part of the castle hardly used, which was lacking pictures as well. He soon realized where the other two had gone, for they suddenly appeared out from one of the classrooms.

"This space is good, boss," a male, whom Harry realized was Kingsley, said. It made him look more closely at the others, wondering of Tonks were among them – however, he soon realized that she was not. Of course, he still studied the others, realizing that there were an equal number of males and females, unless one counted Amelia within the groups, which made the numbering uneven.

"Okay, then," Amelia said, turning to the group. "You will wait out here, in these seat, until your name is called. You will be seeing two of my auror's in a room, and I will be observing all the interrogations through use of specific spell. We have a specific list of questions we will ask you, nothing to hard to answer, and you will be made to take truth potion. You attempt not to, and it will be forced-fed to you, as we will need to make sure we have all the information about what happened during your detentions with Madam Umbridge.

"Don't worry, though, the person you were allowed to bring with you can have a copy of the list of questions we'll be asking, so that they know we're not trying to cheat you and discover something that does not pertain to the case."

Amelia then turned to the others with her. "You may begin," she told them.

"All right," said one of the ones that Harry didn't recognize. "Well be paired up in a specific way, one male and one female in the room. Your names will be called in alphabetical order, and, as you will most likely not finish at the same time, I would suggest that you pay attention to when we call for you."

They then split up into five pairs, each going to one of the doors that had apparently been preselected, as Kingsley went to the one closest to them, while the girl who had originally disappeared with him went to one at the very far end, three other doors in between her and Kingsley. Amelia was the only one to went through a door on the wall they'd been told to wait against, and Harry watched as the first five people called, with their friends if they'd brought one, went through one of each door. Knowing that it would be a while before his name was called, Harry settled down with Hermione right next to him to wait his turn.

"Amazing how all of this was just from one letter to the _Daily Prophet_ ," Hermione said.

"It's only to be expected, considering that it's doubtful that the _Daily Prophet_ is the only place to get a letter," Harry said. "From what I read between the lines, this person sent whatever that letter was to others as well."

"Oh, they did," came a voice to the right of him, Harry turned, looking at the person sitting next to him. Hermione, who also looked, saw who it was, realizing that it was one of the upper years, Isobel Trisvinaté if she was right.

"How do you know that?" Hermione said, just as someone came out from one of the rooms, and someone else was called.

"Because," Isobel said, settling herself against he wall even more, "I'm the one who wrote the letters and sent them out."

That got their attention.

"You did it?" Harry said.

"Of course. That bitch probably assumed that, since no one else had done so, it gave her free range to do it to every students whose parentage she disagreed with. Notice how every single person here is either half-blood or muggleborn. It's because she's a blood bigot," Isobel said. "When she decided to target me, she probably thought that I, just like everyone else, would just bow down and not do a thing about her actions. She seemed to have forgotten that, as an heir to an Ancient and Noble house, I would not only be very aware of the laws, but that I was taught not to sit down when someone is hurting me or others."

"What's an Ancient and Noble house?" Harry asked, confused. The half-blood whose pureblood parent had informed them of such things, looked at him with surprise.

"I guess that answers my question," Isobel muttered, before speaking up. "An Ancient house is a house whose magical blood lines can be traced back, uninterrupted, to the times of Merlin, while a Noble house is a house that was granted a title before the Statue of Secrecy was put into place. Some people would place Most in front of Ancient, Noble, or both to show that they can even trace their magical ancestors, and nobility, back even further than Merlin's time, though most of those houses are gone, due to either war, or lack of fresh blood.

"In all truth, you, Harry, are the head of such a house. The Potters have been around just as long as the Trisvinaté, longer, even. They're one of the few houses left that can actually be called Most Ancient and Most Noble, with the other three being the Greengrass, Longbottom, and Lovegood. In all honesty, you have better rights than most of the students here – it's actually against the law for the Minister and Ministry to have been dragging your name through the mud as they have been. They only reason why they did so and didn't stop until a bit later is because you haven't been throwing around you status, a stupid mistake of yours, though, based on your previous question, was done through ignorance than just ignoring it. Whoever your magical guardian is, I would suggest you tell Madam Bones you'd like to change them, because they are obviously are not doing a proper job of it."

"Magical Guardian?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Whoever it is, is basically your guardian in the wizarding world. They're supposed to help you adjust to the differences in the worlds, as well as, for an orphan with ties to the Ancient and Noble houses, inform you of your status and help you be ready to take your place for when you come of age," Isobel said. "Technically, if your parents are not here, one of your godparents – assuming they're magical with the knowledge needed to do what's needed – would do this. If you don't have godparents, then whoever is assigned as your magical guardian should do it."

"Who assigns that position? And what if you do have godparents, but they can't tell you this for various reasons?" Hermione asked.

"For the latter question, if something is keeping your godparents from telling you, then it goes to the person who would assign you a new magical guardian, though your godparent is able to do so, they should," Isobel said. "As for the former, well, the Chief Warlock would assign it. Considering who was Chief Warlock when you first became orphaned – as that's when it would happen unless your godparents were available, in which case the moment they became unavailable, it would have gone to the Chief Warlock to decide where you go. I do know, though, that, around that time, the Chief Warlock has actually rarely assigned someone other than himself as a magical guardian. All muggleborns, and orphaned half-bloods and pure-bloods, stayed underneath his guardianship, which is probably why you don't know this – I'm not surprised you don't know this already."

"Who does that make my magical guardian?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore," Isobel said. "He's also the one who managed to get a certain law chanced so that you could take lordship of the Potter house upon your immediate entry into this world. He managed to make it so that you had to be fourteen in order to take it, and I'm kind of surprised that you haven't. I know the Goblins would have mentioned it to you when you visited."

"I haven't been to Gringotts since before my third year," Harry admitted.

"Well, I would suggest you make a visit there during Christmas," Isobel said. "One of the privileges of the taking lordship means allowing you to not only take all your votes on the Wizengamot and give them to an of age witch or wizard of your choosing, but it would mean that you'd be allowed to chose where you live without the interference of an adult stopping you, and you'd also be able to get into your family vaults, which is most likely where a good bit of your family history will be stored.

"Of course, I would also suggest talking to Madam Bones," Isobel added in. "As head of the DMLE, she can see if your parents left a will, which could easily shed some light upon certain things, like guardianship for yourself in case of your parents death, as well as any bequeaths your parents gave other people. You don't want it to come as a surprise thirty years later when you discover that you've been a thief because certain bequeaths weren't bestowed to the people they belong to. Of course, that will only be a problem if the will is sealed, which, honestly, I have no doubt it is, because, well, I find it hard to believe that your parents would leave you in the care of Muggles, especially since they have so little contact with our world, and – therefore – wouldn't be ableto really help you understand your magic before school."

Isobel told him this for a reason, because she knew that Lily Potter had once asked her mother if she would mind taking care of Harry in the event of death. Her mother even knew that it was written in the will that she' become his guardian in the event of death of Lily and James Potter, having been there as a witness to it. As the will had been sealed before it could be read, though, it meant that only Harry could unseal it, which he had to do by asking the head of the DMLE to do so. Isobel also knew that her mother was a bit heartbroken in not being about to help Harry the way she should as a proper Godparent – Isobel knew that Dumbledore had forbidden her mother from making contact with Harry, which he was only allowed to do because he was his magical guardian. He had also done something so that she couldn't reach out to Harry without Harry reaching out to her, which she wouldn't be able to do without him knowing that he had someone else to contact.  Isobel knew that it would mention her mother being one of his godparent in the will, so she hoping that Harry would be sufficiently interested enough to want it opened, and soon.

Having said what she wanted to, Isobel sat back, noting that the interviews were actually going pretty fast. Harry, seeing her doing this, turned at looked at Hermione, his face troubled. With what he'd just learned, he couldn't help but wonder why Dumbledore had never mentioned it to him, especially since, if he had, he may have actually been able to not only demand his godfather his extremely long, overdue trial, but also would have known just what letting his pride dictate his actions would do. He might have been able to have Umbridge arrested earlier, if he hadn't been so prideful, as well as distrusting of adults.

The group dwindled down, with none of those who'd gone through the interviews actually being allowed to leave, nor were they really allow to talk about what they'd just went through quite yet – a precaution, as it lessened the chances of whoever Umbridge's lawyer being able to say that we were just repeating the same story. Madam Bones had mentioned that they shouldn't talk about questions they'd been asked until after they'd all be interviewed.

Harry was beginning to grow board, starting to wish that he'd thought to bring Ron instead of Hermione, when he was finally called for his interview. He stood, legs slightly cramped from having been sitting down so long, that it took him a few moments before he could walk on them. Hermione was quicker in getting feeling back into her legs, and walked a bit ahead of him to where they were called. Harry noticed that it was the room where Kingsley was conducting interviews, and almost said hello before catching himself, not knowing if it was a good idea to do so.

"All right, Mr. Potter," the woman in the room started. "I am Victoria Lui, and this is Kingsley Shacklebolt. We will be conducting your interview for today. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

Harry looked to Hermione, knowing that she would know what to ask.

"Is there a possible way to see a pre-determined list of questions, so that I can monitor you and make sure you don't ask anything other than what you need to," Hermione said. Victoria didn't seem all that upset or mad about the obvious distrust the girl had – in fact, she smirked as she pulled a piece of parchment from the table.

"All questions to be asked are on that parchment," she said. "Just make sure that you give it back once you're done with it."

Hermione nodded, rolling it open to see the questions, while Harry watched as he was handed a small goblet with a purple liquid inside. He figured that the truth potion was mixed in with some sort of juice, to help make them feel less nervous about taking it. He took the goblet, and brought it to his mouth. He thought about pretending to drink it, but, due to the small amount, as well as the fact that he was not only being watched carefully, but that there was no where to hide it at, he knew that he had to drink it, and did so, not all that happy about it.

Victoria and Kinglsey knew when he'd drunk it, the effects it gave easily seen to their eyes. Victoria grabbed a blank piece of parchment, set her dicto quill on it, and began to speak.

"October second, one eighteen pm. Unused Classroom of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Interviewers: Victoria Liu and Kingsley Shacklebolt, Auror of British Ministry of Magic. Interviewee: Harry Potter, Fifth-Year Student and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Victoria dictated, before looking over to Harry.

"Full Name?" she asked.

"Harry James Potter," Harry said.

"Age?" she asked.

"Fifteen," he answered.

School house?"

"Gryffindor."

Victoria nodded, seeing that everything so far had panned out to show that he was indeed whom he was supposed to be, so she moved on from those questions to the ones about Umbridge.

"Did you have detention with Delores Umbridge?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered.

"When was the first time you had detention?" Victoria asked.

"My first class with her," Harry said.

"What was it for?" Victoria asked.

"I told her the truth," Harry simply stated, not really feeling a need to elaborate, as the potion didn't have a requirement for it.

"How long was the detention assigned for?" Victoria asked.

"A weeks worth," he said. "The length for each varied, though."

"Were you given detention again once the first assigned one had finished?" she asked.

"Yes," was the answer.

"How often?" she asked.

"Almost weekly," he answered.

"Was it for the same reason as the first detention?" she asked.

"No," he answered. She nodded.

"Please describe what your detentions were like," she told him.

"She'd invite me into her office, informed me that I would be writing lines for her, told me what I would be writing, and gave me parchment and a quill that I was unfamiliar with. During the first detention, when I asked how many lines she wanted me to write, she said 'As many as needed for the message to sink in.' When I mentioned that I didn't have any ink, and she told me that I wouldn't need any," Harry explained. "Upon writing, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my hand, and, upon getting a suspicion, when I wrote again, I watched my hand, and noticed that the words seemed to appear on the skin. When I looked at her after seeing this, she seemed to have a look that suggested she was getting joy for some reason, I had the feeling that she knew exactly what was happening. After I had written quite a few lines, she finally called an end to the detention, and inspected my hand, which was rather red. She was...a bit dissatisfied after seeing it, and said that we'd be picking up where I left off the next night."

Victoria nodded her head, waiting to see if he would say something else. When he didn't, she knew that he was finished with his explanation.

"All right. What did she have you repeatedly write?" she asked.

" 'I must not tell lies'," Harry answered, unconsciously bringing up his right hand and showing it to her. She could see the rather red lines that had been repeatedly dug into his skin, the writing saying exactly what he mentioned it being.

"Final question: Did you send the letters exposing Madam Umbridge's detentions?" she asked.

"No," he said, again not feeling a need to elaborate, especially since he now knew who had done it. Because of the way she worded the question, the potion didn't attempt to force him to tell her who had written the letters.

"Okay," Victoria said, looking back at the dicto quill. "Interview over at one thirty pm."

She then picked up her wand and waved it at Harry, who felt the effects of the potion lift off of him.

"All right, your interview is over. If you will please rejoin your classmates outside and stay there until we have finished with the rest of the interviews," Victoria said, standing. Harry stood as well, and then remembered what Isobel told him.

"Um," he started, gaining the attention of the two. "Is it possible that I can speak to Madam Bones once the interviews are over?"

"We will bring the request to her," Kingsley stated. "Unfortunately, I do not know if it will be possible today, as we are rather busy. However, I do believe that she may at least be able to see you to schedule an appointment for a more in depth conversation."

"Thank you," Harry said, walking out with Hermione right behind him. The moment they'd cleared the door, Hermione rounded on him.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"If my parents have a will, it should become known," he said. "I mean, what if there's evidence that Sirius is innocent."

Hermione opened her mouth, about to suggest that he should check with Dumbledore, when he said that.

"You don't know that," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but, even if there isn't, if they have a will, shouldn't it have been followed, and shouldn't it be followed if there's a reasonable explanation for it not already having been followed," Harry said. Not even Hermione could argue that, as it was true. It should becoming known if one existed or not, so that it could be followed.

"Besides," he said, "with what's been said, I do have to admit that some things just are not adding up at the moment. I mean, like this whole mess with magical guardians. Based on what that girl said, I have one, but we have one, but I didn't know this. Did you?"

"Well, no," Hermione said. Nothing had been said in the infinite books she'd read, so she'd never run into anything about it before.

"And, also based on what she said, Dumbledore is most likely ours – he was Chief Warlock up until a few months ago, after all. It was his job to distribute muggleborns to others, but he apparently did," Harry said. "That confuses me, because, despite the fact that he's our magical guardian, he doesn't do anything like I would think he should, especially if what the girl said. I should have already known what I was just told, yet I didn't up until she mentioned it. Besides, the chances are, it's not just muggeborns he's the magical guardian of, but some other half-bloods like myself who may have lost both parents and not having other family, along with any magical orphan within the pureblood families."

Harry leaned against the wall, forcing himself to calm down since he'd gotten a bit worked up on that. Between the way that Dumbledore was acting now, as well as the fact that he was apparently his magical guardian, meaning that he should have informed Harry about the things that he hadn't. Of course, he could be wrong, but Harry had a feeling that he wasn't.

He waited as patiently as possible with the others who'd already had their interviews, watching the few remaining students being called up before joining them. Harry noticed the rather satisfied smile on the girl he thought was named Isobel's face. As she was one of the last ones, with no one else being called into the room she'd just vacated, he saw the two who'd interviewed her go up to Madam Bones, speaking quietly to her. At that moment, Kinglsey also went up to her.

He saw her nod, then looked towards the group of students.

"Would Harry Potter and Isobel Trisvinaté please come here. The rest of you are free to leave," Amelia said. The others there looked at the two curiously as they stood up and slowly walked away, hoping to hear something interesting while also not wanting to be obvious in their attentions. Many of them were hoping for some more information to be told. Others, remembering being asked if they were the ones who sent the letters, had a feeling that Harry had been the one, and muttered how desperate for attention he had to be to do this, despite how glad they were about the toad being gone. However, they couldn't figure out why the Ravenclaw girl, Isobel, had been called to go up with him.

Amelia, seeing how several of the people were straggling, walked into one of the rooms that had been used for the interviews, motioning for the two – or, rather, three, as Harry had grabbed Hermione's hand before she could walk away with the others, feeling as though she wasn't welcomed in whatever it was that was about to be discussed. However, based on the look that Madam Bones gave her upon seeing her and Harry holding hands, she wasn't unwelcome as she had been fearing she would be.

Harry ended up having to wait a bit as Madam Bones spoke to Isobel, and he figured that she was asking about the letters, based on what little bit he could hear of the quiet conversation, though Harry didn't need to hear any of it. Considering that she'd mentioned having sent the letter to the press, as well as remembering the fact that he'd been asked if he'd done it while on the truth potion, it was easy for him to guess why she'd been asked to be left behind.

The conversation didn't seem to take all that long. Madam Bones released Isobel a mere five minutes after having them talk, with the department head shaking her head while chuckling. She was still chuckling as she turned to Harry, who hesitantly stepped forward, his instinctual distrust of adults rearing it's ugly head upon meeting her gaze. He squashed it down, though, his curiosity over if his parents had a will or not stronger than his distrust.

"Mr. Potter," Amelia said as he came closer to her. "Auror Shacklebolt informed me that you wished to speak to me about something."

"Yes, Ma'am," Harry said.

"As I'm sure that you were informed, I do not have a whole lot of time to speak to you at the moment," she continued. "However, I do have some time, if you will tell me the preliminary of what it is that you needed to speak to me about. If you can just give me a bit of a summary, then it would be appreciated. If you find you cannot, then we will have to arrange a time for you to come to my office – unfortunately, I'm afraid that it may end up being a while, as...well, there's some things happening at the moment that have the Ministry on a 'no-visitors' policy at the moment, and I do not know how long that'll last. Truthfully, I'd offer to meet you outside of my office, but once I'm back at the Ministry, I will probably become very busy – the Minister has already told me that there are other things I need to do once I finish with supervising these interviews."

Harry took a deep breath.

"I was informed that you were the only person I could talk to about being about to discover if my parents had a will and possibly bringing it to light," he said.

"I can," Amelia said, sounding curious to know why he wanted to know this. As far as she knew, the will was public knowledge, and he didn't need to go through her to know what it said – he just needed to ask the goblins about it. Not having been a part of the Wizengamot at the time, she was unaware of the fact that it wasn't as easy as she believed it to be.

"I have been told that the will may have been sealed, thus keeping it's contents from being known," Harry said. "I would like to ask if you would be able to look into this for me, and let me know. In fact, if it is sealed, I would like it to be unsealed and the contents known to me. That is, if you are willing."

He swallowed nervously while Amelia thought about his request. She could tell that he actually didn't know if his parents will was sealed, but, seeing how he was suspicious of it, she didn't blame him for skipping the goblins and coming straight to her. If it was sealed, he would save time.

"I can indeed look into that for you, and let you know if it's sealed or not. If it is, then I will have it brought to the attention of Gringotts, for they're the ones who handle will readings and bequeaths," she said. "You will, as you are now of the age where you can listen to it, be able to know attend the will reading."

Harry broke out into a smile.

"Thank you," he said, stepping back as he waited to see if he was excused.

"You may go now," she said, and he nodded, pulling Hermione behind him as he left.

Kingsley looked over to her.

"Do you think that it's possible that he's telling the truth, and that the will was sealed?" he asked.

"Considering the fact that we all know that Dumbledore took it upon himself to to place Harry where he lives now, and declared himself as Harry's magical guardian, I suppose that it could be true," Amelia said, thinking. "While it was before my time as both Department head and member of the Wizengamot, I do remember hearing that Dumbledore placed Harry with his guardians a mere day after what happened with his parents, which shouldn't have happened, since he had no right to do so with Sirius Black still in the position to be Harry's Godfather, and, thus, have custody of him until his arrest and prison sentence happened."

"If the will was sealed by Dumbledore, do you think it's possible that there's something in it that would keep him from being allowed to do what he did?" Kingsley asked. "I mean, what reason did he give for having it sealed from the public?"

"He said that it was important that those who follow Voldemort, but were not caught, not be allowed to know it's contents, and that, as he was there when it was signed, he already knew what it said, so there was no reason to not still follow what was written," Victoria said, knowing what had been said by him due to the fact that she'd been there at the time. Her father had dragged her there to hear what Dumbledore said – like most of magical Britain, he thought the sun shown from the old wanker's arse, and would have done anything for him, a fact that Victoria was more than sure had been the cause of his death and the sudden attempt to leave her moneyless. She was only thankful that she'd moved the entire contents of the Lui vault into her personal vault when her father had gotten sick, meaning there was nothing to inherit in the main family vault, which had somehow been given to Dumbledore, in a roundabout way. Of course, she had no way to prove that he'd done anything...

"Truthfully, I think it's bull, and was only said to keep people from pressing him to unseal the will," Victoria added, folding her arms. The other two nodded their heads, knowing that it would really only take that in order to get the public off his back about it.

"Well, I guess I'll be finding out if that's true or not," Amelia said, having no problem with finding the answer. She knew that, unless she was needed, she'd be spending time in the records room, where the will would be found. In fact, she was more than hopeful that, when she informed the new Minister of Mr. Potter's wishes, she would purposely be given the time to look for it. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that Minister Haliwell would be more than open to the idea of helping Mr. Potter out, if there was a wrong to be righted.


	6. The Ministry Interviews

Meanwhile, as Amelia was making her way to Hogwarts, Tonks was still in the waiting room with the other aurors, looking from one unfamiliar face to another. No one had been introduced yet, and she was curious to know who these ten people were, especially since it appeared as though she was to basically take orders from one of them – a handsome male who was built with wiry muscles, sported a close crop of black hair, and had dark olive tone skin.

"Hello, there," the male stated. "I'm Demitri Cale, and this is Jackie White, Amber Song, Luna Hwang, Marguerite Liu, Jasper Song, Angel Spokes, Micheal Gomez, Rose Haydenson, and Anthony Gibbs." He pointed to each as he introduced them. Tonks was glad for the introduction, as none of them had been named, unlike the group that had been sent to Hogwarts.

Ewan decided to be the spokesperson with their group, introducing them all with a quick and efficient confidence that Tonks was surprised to see him use. Not that he was usually not confidence, but this seemed to be a bit different, making her wonder why.

After the introductions were done, the Acting Minister came out of the office, giving the Aurors a once over, the look on her face suggesting that she rather not deal with any of them. However, she didn't say anything to that effect, instead she spoke of their orders once again.

"Demitri is your team leader," she said, coming to the end of her spiel. "You are all to follow his orders on how he wants you to be paired, how you are to work, and what questions you must ask. Do not think that you have a right to deviate from his instructions, though."

The last bit was delivered with a glare towards the Aurors, making it clear of who that warning was towards. Then, she turned, sweeping back into the office, leaving the group alone once again.

"All right, then," Demitri said, looking over at them. "If you'll just follow me to the interrogation room we plan to use for our inquiries, we can get this business over with as soon as possible."

Tonks following towards the end of the group, wondering just which set of interrogation rooms he thought to use, soon recognizing the way to a set or rooms meant for friendly interrogations. On the way there, Tonks noticed that, even though the group was hardly inconspicuous, they were being ignored by everyone around them. She was confused, wondering why no one seemed to notice them when one of the other members of their 'team' seemed to notice this.

"Specially based notice-me-not charm," the woman said; Tonks recognized her as being Amber Song. "We'd gain attention by others if they were too see us, so it's made so that we're not until they're allowed to. It'll make transporting anyone to the cells easier while keeping people from noticing what were doing, since, if they did, they might attempt to run, and that would just be too much of a hassle to want to deal with."

"Oh," Tonks said, nodding. Thinking about it, she had to admit that it was a rather useful charm to be able to use, and wondered how it was that it wasn't already known to them. Surely Amelia would have mentioned using such a charm already, after all. She figured that it must be a new one, one that they hadn't been told of yet because of everything that had been going on, which left little time for knew spell knowledge at the moment.

"Yeah, it's been a staple to use since it's invention fifteen years ago," Amber stated, causing much surprise to Tonks, who wondered how it was even possible that it hadn't become known in Britain yet if that was the case. Then, she wondered something else.

"Were was the spell created?" she asked.

"Japan," Amber said, and Tonks nodded her head, letting out a sigh. Of course – it was a foreign spell, something that the Minister would have thrown a fit over using, along with all the purebloods in the department. Foreign magic was considered weak and worthless to many of the purebloods, though, with just this little taste of it, Tonks knew that it was mostly because they'd never get away with some of the things they did if the spells were used like they should be. Tonks knew that some of the purebloods she worked with were among Voldemort's supporters – she wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of them were even marked, and, suddenly, she saw the bright side of having to do these interviews. Not only would she be finally ridding of some of the Death Eaters she knew were within the Ministry – or, rather, finding them – but she'd be able to bring a list of any other possible Death Eaters to the Order, therefore letting them have an even clearer sign of just who else could be on the dark side.

"Okay," Demitri said, causing Tonks to realize that they'd arrived where they needed to be. He motioned for them to follow him into the antechamber, having them gather into a circle, before explaining the way their objective was to be conducted. He split them up as the Minister had told him to split them up, with Tonks ending up with Demitri and Jackie. She wondered why she was placed with the two of them, but didn't question it as she was told that they would start hauling people in from their Department – from the actual Auror division, actually – and spread out from there.

After receiving this order, Demitri then had them set themselves up in the individual rooms, just as a letter floated into the room. Demitri grabbed it before it could land on the table in the middle of the room, opening it up to see that it was a list of names, and what department and section of the department they were apart of. The list was pretty long, what with all the information on it, and it took a bit for it to be divided up, but, eventually, they were all released to begin bringing people in.

It didn't take long for Tonks and Jackie to bring in their first interviewee, a young Muggleborn woman named Anna Anidri. Anna, thankfully in Tonks' opinion, took the truth potion after being told why she was there – to be asked certain questions under it, and to sign an oath to keep quiet about the interview once it was done with. Tonks recognized most of the questions as being the same ones she was asked herself, with only one more question (blood status) added in. The answers, however, were slightly difference, especially when it came to the questions about Harry and Dumbledore. Anna admitted that she wasn't sure what to think about Harry, that she'd heard a lot about what was told in the Prophet, but that, at the same time, none of it had made much sense to her. It was like he was the media darling one moment, and then a dark lord in training the next.

As for Dumbledore, she believed that he actually was not as kind as he pretended to be, that what he said did not match up with his actions. She felt that, even though he said he was for equality among everyone, his actions said otherwise, said that he didn't believe that the status quo should really be changed. In other words, while not a Muggleborn hater, he was a bit of a traditionalist, meaning he did believe that Muggleborns were lower than Purebloods.

Once she was done – and, truthfully, several of the next interviews were done as well – she was led to an unused office, informed that she would need to stay there for a moment until they were done. Then, they brought in the next person. This went on for a while, with some people going to the same room as Anna, and others going to a different room, right up until Yaxley Burkus. He ended up being the first person who tried to fight against the interview, learning that he couldn't cast a spell inside the building, and having the potion absorbed through his skin when he refused to open his mouth and take it. His expression that said their actions were futile appeared for a single moment before his eyes widened with shock, shock her own eyes most likely reflected when she saw that happen.

His reasons for resisting became clear all to soon, as he was revealed to be a Death Eater, something he gained for his perchance for raping and torturing muggle male children. Tonks almost threw up when Yaxley described his first kill, with such a relish for details that went beyond what the potion forced him to give. As it was, she was beyond glad that when Demitri didn't ask for more details about it, choosing instead to move to another question, that being of his opinion of Dumbledore and then Harry. While the latter's answer didn't surprise Tonks – knowing what she did now – the former did. Tonks was horrified to learn that the former actually respected Dumbledore for his 'rather devious, Slytherin actions of making people believe that he was actually for Mudbloods when he was obviously just as disgusted by them just as I am'.

His interview was the first of the Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters interviews Tonks heard in the Auror department, and as more Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters became known, she noticed the fact that they all started to run together with their similarity of first kill answers and their opinion of Harry Potter, as well as their opinion of Dumbledore, which mostly matched Yaxley's. And, on the complete opposite side of them, the innocent ones, the non Death Eaters and ones who didn't let people bribe them, all agreed that Dumbledore was the biggest hypocrite who seemed to think no one would catch on to the fact. And the only reason why they didn't seem to say this out loud was because he had so many people thinking the sun shone from his behind that they didn't want to anger those people; it also seemed that, if you didn't like Dumbledore, you were labeled dark.

Each interview was quick in disillusioning her to Dumbledore, who, it seemed, actually didn't have as many supporters within the Auror's Offices as he may have thought he did, and, as they finished the Auror department – with eight Death Eaters, twelve sympathizers/helpers, fifteen bribe takers, and the rest innocent of any charges that the others were given – Tonks just knew that it was the beginning.

* * *

 

Arthur Weasley looked over to the door of his office as it opened, curious and becoming more curious when he saw Tonks walk in with three other people. He gave her a confused look, trying to get her to give some signal about what this was about, but she didn't look at him.

"Mr. Perkins, Mr. Weasley," an Auror that Arthur recognized as being one of the few people of that group he was friendly with, especially now a days, since some of the ones who used to talk to him in the past were no longer doing so, mostly because of his well known allegiance to Dumbledore.

"Yes?" Arthur said, standing up like Perkins was doing.

"Please follow us," the Auror said, motioning for them to do so. Arthur looked over at Tonks, saw that she still wasn't looking at him, and, worried, he walked with them. Once he was close to the group, he immediately knew that there was something about to happen that was not the usual, for he realized that the other two people of the four were not Aurors, or people he'd ever seen before. What really drove home the idea that something was wrong was the fact that they wore robes branded with the ICW insignia. Arthur sedately walked with them. Tonks and one of the ICW people gestured for him to enter a room after he was separated from Perkins, who was led to the door of another room.

Inside, Arthur noticed another ICW insignia-robed wizard was waiting for them, standing on one side of a desk, where a bunch of papers were piled up – on his side. The opposite area was devoid of anything save for a chair and a goblet which had – as Arthur saw when he was guided over to sit in the chair – a purple potion within, just a swallows worth of it.

"Mr. Arthur Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?" the man said, and Arthur nodded his head. "I'm Demitri Cale, a member of the ICW. This is my partner, Jackie White. The auror here is Nymphadora Tonks."

The look Arthur gave her told the two ICW members that they knew each other. Arthur, however, didn't realize he gave away that fact to them, choosing instead to see what Tonks reaction to them using her first name would be. To his surprise – and slight worry – she didn't react the way he thought she would have. Instead, she was still avoiding his eyes, and his feelings that something bad was going on increased.

"May I ask what is going one," Arthur said. "Why am I here?"

"Do not worry; you are not being singled out. Everyone Ministry employee is being interviewed, on the order of the Minister," Demitri told him, and, though still worried, Arthur found himself glad to know that fact. It made this seem a little less of him having done something wrong, and more like it was an actual interview instead of an interrogation. "That potion in front of you is a truth potion. The interview will not start until you have taken it."

Arthur looked at him, getting the unspoken hint that they were hoping that he would take it of his own violation. He looked down at it, eyes widening as he recognized it. Having eloped with Molly to Spain to marry her, he recognized the potion within as the truth potion he'd had to take during their wedding vows. He was surprised to see it, because it technically was illegal to use in Britain – Arthur knew that those who had pushed for that ruling were people who hadn't like the idea of a potion that wasn't easily duped.

"All right," Arthur finally stated, somehow sensing the rather ansy movements of the Tonks, and noticing the look on her face. Somehow, he had the feeling that the alternative wasn't what he wanted to do, and so reached for the goblet, swallowing he small amount of potion within it. Immediately, he felt it spread throughout him, making him feel slightly lax, completely calm, and as though there would be nothing wrong with telling these people every secret he knew.

Demitri, after speaking the date, time, place, interviewee and interviewers, looked over to Arthur, beginning his questions. Tonks watched, listening as Arthur went through the process that she'd seen played out so many times. However, as they came closer to the question about Dumbledore, Tonks became a bit worried. After listening to the opinions of several others about the man – both good and bad – she wasn't quite sure of what to think about him herself anymore. She wondered if she was the only one feeling that way; so when she head Arthur say what she had used to unfailingly believe herself about Dumbledore, she felt a bit better in knowing she wasn't the only one who thought that way; or had, anyway.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Weasley," Demitri stated, waving his wand and clearing the potion from Arthur's system. "If you will follow Auror Tonks, she'll direct you to where you will need to wait until we allow you leave."

"Yes, sir," Arthur said, nodding to the other woman. He waited until they were a few feet from the office before looking over to Tonks.

"Tonks, what's going on?" he asked her lowly. She looked around them, making sure no one was listening or paying attention to them, before slowing down.

"Fudge messed up badly in defending Umbridge," she whispered, "the ICW got involved because of that."

She was about to go on, explaining about how he'd been replaced, and that their new minister had ordered them to interview everyone, when her throat closed, not so much that she couldn't breath, but so that she couldn't talk. Her eyes widened as she realized that something was stopping her from telling him, her hand clawing uselessly at her throat.

Arthur looked at her curiously, wondering why she'd stopped, when he saw her motions. It took him a bit to realized that she wasn't having a problem breathing, just speaking, and he correctly guessed that it was because she couldn't tell him more than she had.

"Don't force yourself to speak," he finally said to her, after seeing her panicking because she couldn't speak. "I suspect that whatever it is that you were about to tell me is something you are not allowed to tell, so I won't force you to try to."

"But I don't get it. Why can't I speak about –" she said, immediately losing her voice as she tried to say what it was that she wasn't allowed to speak.

"I don't know. But it's possible that you were placed under a spell, or said something that bound you from speaking without permission about whatever it is that you cannot say," Arthur told her. Tonks thought, but couldn't think of what how that might have been, until she realized that she wasn't dealing with regular English witches and wizards. She was dealing with foreign witches and wizards, ones who knew spells she didn't, and could also take anything she said in agreement as a way to bind her from saying anything before she was given permission to do just that.

"I take it you just had an idea of how you could have been spelled," Arthur said, and she nodded her head. However, she couldn't say anything else to him as she noticed that one of the ICW witches were looking at the two suspiciously. She told him to enter the room she had been instructed to place those who didn't end up arrested, and headed back to the room where her partners were waiting. Before she got there, the ICW witch that had been looking at them – who she recognized to be Marguerite Lui – stopped her.

"What were you loitering around with Mr. Weasley for?" she asked, politely but firmly.

"We know each other personally," Tonks answered. "He wanted to know why he was being interviewed, and what was going on. I just told him that after Fudge's mistake of backing Umbridge, the ICW ended up getting involved – which is the truth. If I wasn't supposed to tell him that, I apologize. But I can vouch that he won't spread that around if that's what you're thinking."

"You just seemed to be hanging back a little too much for it to have been that," Marguerite said. "Then again, if your friends, then I can see why you would Just know that, when you agreed to carry out the Minister's orders and basically said that you were trustworthy of doing this task, you were agreeing to not say anything about what was going on that isn't to be known yet."

Tonks nodded, holding back the anger she had at hearing those words. While she wanted to show herself as trustworthy, she was mad that agreeing to do this task had been cause enough for the bind that had kept her from telling Arthur about what was really going on. It wasn't something she was used to – even when on missions she wasn't supposed to say anything about, she tended to tell those who asked about it, if it was deemed important enough for them to know, or it was asked about – Dumbledore had a habit of doing just that.

She headed back to the interview room, almost running into Jackie on her way in.

"Oh, there you are. You were taking quite a while, I was coming to get you," she stated.

"Sorry," Tonks stated.

"No problem," Jackie told her. "Come on, let's go get the next 'victim'."

She said the last word in a sort of humored voice, but what Tonks had just learned about the bind on her, as well as everything she'd heard so far, both about the person themselves, their opinions about Harry, and, most importantly, their opinions about Dumbledore, had left her less than thrilled over what they were doing. In fact, where Jackie seemed to want to continue, she couldn't wait until the interviews were finally over.

* * *

 

"Okay, that was the last of them," Demitri finally stated, while most of the people in the room – particularly the Aurors – were all doing their best to hold back their yawns. Having gone through everyone in the building, while quick because there were no playing around with the interviews, just giving them the potion and asking the questions, didn't mean that it went by that quickly. There were quite a few employees in every department, and it had already been two days since they first started, with very little sleep for any of them. In fact, the only reason why it had managed to go by quicker than it would have was because, when Amelia and the others had come back, after giving the inter view papers over to the Minister – who told Amelia, before she could begin to brief the Minister, that any meeting about what had been discovered would have to wait until the Ministry interviews were done – they had been told to help with the Ministry interviews.

Demitri, looking as though he was well rested despite the fact that he had gotten just about as much sleep in the last two days as everyone else, stood in front of the group, Amelia – who, strangely enough, looked as well rested as Demitri did – standing next to him.

"All right, everyone, rest," he said, still in charge, even though Amelia was there, and, therefore, being the one they had to listen to. "You'll have to stay here, but you are officially allowed to go to sleep now."

No one heard anything after that, all waving wands around to conjure bedding for themselves, settling down. Demitri held back a chuckle as he saw that even his team members were doing the same as the Aurors. He turned to Amelia.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get these to the Minister, have the briefing about these interviews, as well as the interviews you did at Hogwarts, gain whatever new instructions on what to do with everyone, and then get some sleep ourselves."

"What about the employees that were found to be okay?" Amelia asked.

"I already had someone go in and inform them of the fact that they weren't going to be leaving the room for a while, as well as had some food brought to them and conjure some beds for them when the first night rolled around," Demitri said. "Until we get the okay for the Minister, We can't really do more than that."

Amelia nodded her head, and headed out of the room, turning at the door to take one last look at the people who'd been working hard the last few days, most already asleep. Her gaze mostly drifted between her Auror's, who, despite being out of their depth – never had they really had the freedom to interrogate someone who had no choice but to answer truthfully, without walking over their rights by law – had handled it pretty well, some with a zest that would have worried her if she hadn't noticed exactly who they were glad to be questioning. Even she had a zest for questioning certain individuals, people who, she actually wasn't surprised to learn, were exactly what she thought they were – evil.

"Hey, you coming," Demitri called to her, shaking her from her thoughts, and, nodding her head, she left the room, the door closing behind her as she entered the lift.


	7. Planning

Demitri and Amelia were both silent as the rode the lift to the Minister's office. Demitri was looking through one of the notebooks in his hands while Amelia was thinking of things, particularly what Harry Potter had asked of her. Now that it had been mentioned to her, she couldn't help but wonder about it. She thought about what had happened fourteen years ago, about the days following He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's disappearance. Harry's circumstances had been pushed aside rather quickly once Dumbledore had said that Harry was placed in a safe place, rather skillfully drawing attention away from whom he'd been placed with bringing attention to finding Death Eaters.

Now that she thought about it, people had seemed to forget about that fact as they became more interested in the gossip on those subjects were about. As time moved on, and Dumbledore made assurances that Harry was safe, while also making vague hints that he was where he needed to be, people seemed to stop really caring about it, life going on. Personally, for her at least, she had assumed that a will had shown up where Harry was supposed to be placed with his aunt, or, though most likely improbable considering how the times were, there wasn't a will, and Dumbledore had just done his job by placing Harry with family, for while Harry's grandfather on his father's side was still alive at the time, he was in no condition to take care of Harry, as proven by the fact that he died just a few short years later.

Still, with Harry actually inquiring about it, it brought it to the forefront of her mind, she began to wonder if, perhaps, there was something she was missing. Dumbledore had never mentioned there being anything wrong between Harry and his relatives, though considering just how adamant that Harry be placed with them that Dumbledore was made her wonder if he had just ignored it if there had been anything wrong.

“Well, based on how the interviews went, I have the feeling that we're going to be very busy in making sure all of these people are properly dealt with, and that the punishments fit the crime,” Demitri suddenly said to her.

“I will happily leave that up to the minister,” Amelia said. “After all, due to the act, it is her right.”

“Yeah, well, knowing her like I do, she'll most likely only deal with the more serious ones. The punishments for the others will go onto us while she works on whipping everything into shape,” Demitri said. “While she'll still have a part of the process, she's going to be a bit busy in dealing with here, the newpapers, and the school to fully deal with each individual person in need of punishment.”

“The school?” Amelia questioned.

“Yeah. The ICW specifically asked that she pay a lot of attention to the schools, particularly Hogwarts, since the standard for the school has dropped quite a bit in the last few hundred years,” Demitri said. “Hogwarts has just been doing almost the bare minimum it has to in order for any O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to count in the ICW route without interference. In most other schools around the world, you can get up to twenty O.W.L.s and about forty N.E.W.T.s, while Hogwarts only offers twelve for both. Seeing that you have to at least offer ten for both categories, and of the twelve offered at Hogwarts, Divination for both actually do not count in that minimum, and the lack of update for the History of magic class at Hogwarts means that you only have ten subjects that count, which is not good. And that's just a hint of the general problem. There are quite a few others, as well.”

Amelia nodded her head, though she did not look all that please, for what was being said pretty much said that her education, as well as her niece's, was not what it should be.

“I take it that Madam Haliwell is going to be paying special attention to the school in addition to the Ministry,” Amelia said.

“Oh, yes. She even has a separate group for it; just as me and the others do this, she has a specific group just for dealing with schools,” Demitri said. “And I can pretty much guarantee that she'll start dealing with the school sooner rather than later.”

“Well, I wish her luck in that regard,” Amelia said, knowing that the teachers would probably give her problems if she even dared to interfere in 'Dumbledore's' arena.

“Oh, knowing her as I do, she'll have no problem,” Demitri said. “With her attitude, people tend to come to like her, a lot.”

Amelia snorted, but didn't say anything as the lift came to a stop. She followed after him into the Minister's office, where the new Minister was sitting behind the desk. Wearing new clothes – a black blouse with some sort of symbol on it being all that Amelia could see – the young woman definitely look refreshed compared to many of the others. She was seated in a rather comfy looking chair, and Amelia saw that she was looking through the interviews from the school. It appeared as though she didn't noticed them, though that thought was removed from Amelia's mind within a few seconds of it crossing it.

“The interviews are done, then?” she stated, still not looking at them, clearly more interested in the interviews in front of her. She seemed to be going through them kind of slowly, though she had at least gotten through half of them, if not a bit more than half. Amelia was rather surprised by this, as well as the fact that there appeared to be three piles going on – she couldn't help but wonder just what two of those piles were for. Of course, at this point, Amelia realized something she forgot when wondering how it was that the Minister wasn't done with them, which was that the Minister, unlike them, was allowed to leave if need be. She didn't have to stay if she didn't want to.

While Amelia was wondering about all of this, Demitri was answering the Minister.

“Yes. Here they are,” he said, placing the stack of notebooks in his arms onto the desk. Much like with the Hogwarts interviews, they had used the Muggle items to write everything, meaning that they didn't have to deal with rolls of parchment, which had the tendency to roll up often when dealing with them, especially when trying to write.

“Did you pull the papers out?” Tristelianna asked.

“Do you want us to?” Demitri countered.

“It would be appreciated,” Tristelianna said, finally looking up. “At least, you, Demitri, can help. Amelia, can you give me the briefing over the Hogwarts interviews?”

“Of course,” Amelia said, proceeding to do so. She ended the briefing by mentioning Harry's request. Tristelianna sat back in seat at that, a thoughtful look on her face.

“You know, with what I know about Mr. Potter, the inquiry is one that I've often wondered about as well after hearing about his placement with his mundane relatives, which always struck me as odd, considering that no wizard here in England would ever do that unless given absolutely no choice,” Tristelianna said. “Unlike in the rest of the world, many witches and wizards here in England seem to think that, when it comes to witches and wizards from mundane families, everything possible is done to isolate them from the non-magical family members. I can't see the Potters willingly placing their son with his mundane aunt, since Mrs. Potter was exposed to this thinking as well, and woudn't even consider her sister as a possible guardian for her son. Of course, this is assuming they had a will. If they didn't, I find it rather surprising that one of the biggest people behind doing everything possible to make sure this divide exists would place him with mundanes.”

“So, do I have your permission?” Amelia asked.

“Yes and no,” Tristelianna said. “You can look, but, before you do, there is actually one little matter I want to deal with, one that I believe to be rather important. Well, I should say, I consider it to be one of the more important things that need to be dealt with immediately – the other major thing has to do with Hogwarts, but I'm already working on that a bit.”

“What is it, for both things?” Amelia asked.

“Well, the first is the Sirius Black case,” Tristelianna said.

“You want me to find and bring him in, don't you?” Amelia said.

“Actually, not really,” Tristelianna said. “What I want to know is why there was never a trial for him. While he was incarcerated underneath the emergency acts, the moment those acts lifted, he was supposed to have a trial. After all, without one, he cannot be considered a criminal.”

Amelia straightened up upon hearing that.

“He didn't have a trial?” she asked.

“No,” Tristelianna said. “While you were doing the interviews in general, I was looking through past cases. Seeing as it was one of the most recent files that had been looked at, I decided to see what investigation had been done to discover how he managed to get out of Azkaban when I saw the lack of a trial script.”

“So, what is it that you're going to do, and what is it that you need me for?” Amelia asked.

“Well, because of how he was incarcerated by the emergency acts, it means that a trial has to be given before any verdict upon him can be declared,” Tristelianna said. “I need you to put one of your people on searching for him, and let them know they are to bring him in for a trial. While I won't lie – I do have some doubt that he's guilty – I also know that no one is going to believe it here in England unless there is proof. A trial with truth potion should help with that, and, if he's innocent, we begin undoing twelve years of damage, though what the Ministry has done to him will probably take a lot to make amends to him.”

“If he's innocent,” Amelia said. Tristelianna nodded.

“Once the aurors have rested, I will be giving all but whoever it is that's to hold the Black assignment their next assignments,” Tristelianna said.

“And the Hogwarts issue?” Amelia questioned.

“The defense teacher,” Tristelianna said. “They can't go to long without one. In fact, perhaps you can answer an inquiry I have.”

She then explained the dilemma to Amelia, who, after thought, gave the answer that Tristelianna was hoping to hear.

“Well, then, you two better get some rest,” Tristelianna said, going back to the interviews. “The rest of my team will be here in a few hours, and, once they get here, I will take care of the the Hogwarts issue, which, hopefully, will only take a few hours at most. Then, well, I think it'll be a good time to reveal this particular change to the Ministry, yeah?”

“The students will know first?” Amelia asked.

“Yes, and no,” Tristelianna said. “I will introduced myself to the employees who weren't arrested straight up first before going to Hogwarts, where I will make my 'grand' introduction. I will also unveil the defense professor, as well as some of the other changes that I will be imposing on Hogwarts in order to help bring it up to standard.”

“Understood,” Amelia said, feeling a little apprehensive of what was going to be happening.

“Oh, and the Black case, that's to remain secret until he's in our custody, in which case, I will not only reveal that we have him, but that he never had a trial, and therefore will be given one that day,” Tristelianna said. “Also, Mr. Percy Weasley, the old Minister's junior assistant, did he pass the interview?”

“Yes,” Demitri, whose team had been the one to interview him, said.

“Then bring him up. Considering what his job is, he needs to know that the rules have changed, and, assuming he wants to keep his job, he's going to have to learn to work with me,” Tristelianna said.

“And, if he refuses?” Amelia asked.

“Then he'll be demoted to his father's assistant,” Tristelianna said. “I won't fully kick him out, considering that I have seen his record enough to know that he isn't here as an employee because of his blood status, as many of the others appear to be. Well, let me rephrase that, he isn't unworthy of having been hired like others are, because, in a fair world, he still would have been hired for a ministry position.

“Oh, and, once you're in the lift, inform him of some of what's happened, so that he's not completely shocked.”

Amelia nodded her head before going and grabbing Percy Weasley as she'd just been instructed to – while the Minister might not have actually been looking at her, or Demitri, she got the feeling that it was an order meant for her.

Finding Percy wasn't hard – he was as far from his father as possible, and still awake and alert, for, upon seeing her enter, he stood up and practically ran to her.

“What is going on, Madam?” he demanded, about to ask more questions, when Amelia gave him a warning look that told him he needed to keep his mouth shut.

“Follow me,” Amelia told him, leading him to the lift. “The Minister wants to see you.”

Percy nodded his head, walking into the lift, where Amelia pressed the button to send them to the Minister's floor. Once the doors closed, Amelia turned to Percy.

“Mr. Weasley, with your knowledge of rules and such, are you aware of the ICW Act of 1112?” Amelia asked.

“Yes,” Percy said, a slight look of dawning on his face.

“Well, after Fudge's staunch defense of Madam Umbridge, the ICW acted immediately, and have inacted the act,” Amelia explained.

“We have a new Minister,” Percy said.

“Yes, and they've specifically asked for you,” Amelia said. Percy got a worried look on his face. He couldn't really see a reason why he'd be asked for unless he was losing his job. He just knew it would happen, especially considering that he technically shouldn't have the job to begin with. He wasn't stupid, despite what some might think. He knew that, after his seemingly hostile takeover last year, he should have been fired or demoted. Instead, he, a member of a family well known for being close to Dumbledore just as he became persona non grata, is promoted to a position that is considered to be pretty high up in the Minister, with only the Undersecretary and Minister really being above him, though he still held respect for Madam Bones enough to act as though she was above him.

He knew, upon receiving the promotion, even with his excitement, that it wasn't because the Minister had thought him actually worth having it. No, he'd been given the position because Fudge had wanted to use him to spy on his family, and Dumbledore, even if the Minister hadn't come out and say it. The only reason why, after purposely breaking with his family by finally not holding back on his feelings – because even though he did love them, the lack of pride towards reputation and the pridefulness towards being given charity, the two-face attitude of his mother concerning himself and his siblings, and the way his siblings treated him because of his mother's attitude towards favoring him over almost all of the others, save for Ginny, had stewed within him ever since he'd been teased in his first year of school for his second hand clothes that could have been avoided if his mother hadn't denied the offer of charity when it became realized that they wouldn't actually be able to by without help when he first started school.

And, while he did believe Harry Potter and Dumbledore to be lying, it hadn't been his main reason for breaking with his family. Even if he believed something opposite of what they did, he refused to betray them by spying on them for simply believing something they had a right to believe.

Percy did he very best not to shake as the lift came to a stop and the doors opened. Walking through them, he saw the one male who'd been a part of the team that had interviewed him step from the office and look at him.

“He's to go in alone,” the man said, and Amelia nodded her head.

“Well, through the door, Mr. Weasley,” Amelia told him, and he nodded, summoning his courage, and walked through the door into the Minister's office.

He found her immediately, sitting behind the desk going through the strange parchment that was much like what the man who'd interviewed him had used during the interview. She looked a bit younger than he'd thought she'd be, though there was an intimidating aura around her. She didn't look up from whatever she was reading as he walked in, going straight for the seat in front of the desk as he waited for her to acknowledge him.

“Hello, Mr. Weasley,” she suddenly said, still looking at him. He started, having not expected her to speak while still reading as she was.

“Hello, Ma'am,” he stated.

“I suppose you're wondering why you're here,” she said, finally putting down the paper she was reading and looking at him. He nodded his head.

“Well, the answer to that is simple – as Junior Minister Assistant, you hold a job that puts you close to the Minister. Seeing as whom put you there has changed, well, means that you're position is in a precarious place,” she said, standing up. “Now, I'm going to ask you some questions, ones that were not asked during your interview. I would like it if you would answer them truthfully, without me needing to have you take the potion. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” Percy said, and she nodded her head.

“Good,” she said. “Now, first question...”

The questions asked were indeed different to what he'd been asked in the interview, as most of them were about his opinion on some things and people. He gave her the answers as truthfully as he could, doing his best not to give what he suspected she might want to hear, as she'd told him, when he'd tried that, that she wanted his thoughts, not what he thought she'd want to hear. Knowing that he needed to do that, he did so, which seemed to please her a bit. It was only the last question, which was about whether or not he believed Harry to be lying, and why, that got him a reaction, for she raised her eye brow upon hearing his answer.

“Well, my I ask why, when there was no investigation given, you would assume he was lying particularly since, in my experience, people who assume things are later to be shown as having made asses of themselves for doing so?” she asked, causing him to splutter at the unexpected words.

“But, he's dead. It's not possible,” Percy stated.

“Mr. Weasley. I hate to inform you, but without a body, the state of his being actually can't be confirmed as him being dead or not,” she told him. “It's well known no body was found that night, and, considering that he traveled around the world, and thus, learned about Dark Arts that you have probably never heard of, you can't say that he didn't have something in place in case something happened to him. I can tell you right now, that, based on what he chose to name himself as, he would do anything to not die.”

“So, you're saying he's alive?” Percy asked, sounding rather skeptical.

“I'm saying that, unless a body that does not move is found, or an investigation where evidence is collected and used is done, we can not truthfully say if it's true or not,” she said. “And, before you ask, this is the way my ministry will work. We will not give assumptions about things based on opinion or appearance. We will use cold hard facts to decide what true and what's not. Understand?”

“Yes, Ma'am,” Percy said, slightly stunned. That had been the last thing he was expecting. Then, he realized something.

“Are you...” he started, pausing as he tried to figure out the best way to say what he wanted to say. “Are you saying that I still have my position?”

“If you can deal with the fact that, due to the way I am Minister, I will be basically trampling over all the rules and replacing most of them while also bringing the British wizarding world into the twentieth century, then yes,” she said, and his eyes widened.

“Yeah, I think I can do that,” he said, a wide smile crossing his face.

“I do hope so. If you have some trouble with me ignoring the rules, though, just remember how I became Minister, as the Act pretty much says what I'm allowed to do right in it,” she told him. “Now, go get some rest. Demitri will come to get you when I need you.”

“Yes, Ma'am,” he said, standing up and almost skipping out the door in his relief not to have been fired. Tristelianna, seeing his actions, could only smile and shake her head lightly while chuckling as Demitri walked back in.

“I take it that the news was more favorable for him than he might have expected,” he said.

“I have the feeling that young Mr. Weasley may have some trouble, but that he will follow orders remarkably well,” she said. “Plus, I don't think it'll take long for him to get used to the way I do things – he appears to be rather adaptable, a talent that will serve him pretty well.”

Demitri nodded.

“I came in to give you this,” he said, handing her a folded letter. She opened it, glancing at what was written, before looking up at him.

“There be here in ten minutes. Wow, they must've decided to come sooner than the estimate I was given,” she said.

“Yes,” he said, taking a seat in the chair Percy had just vacated. “Can you blame them, though? Several of them have been hoping England would eventually be unable to get away with it's cheap and blood status driven ways.”

Tristelianna snorted.

“I think I can say that you're the same way as well, no?” she said.

“Hell yes, I am,” he said. “The Hogwarts students are such an embarrassment to the wizarding world as a whole. And the way that blood status practically decides everything. No, England is about to be in for rude awakening, and it's about damn time it happened, too.”

“I agree,” she stated, finishing reading the interview that she was reading before placing it into one of the piles.

“So, what are you're piles here for?” he asked.

“Well, with how many students there were who had detention with Umbridge, there's no way all of them can come to the trial, and no way I'm going to force some of them onto the stand. So, this pile –“ she pointed to the pile on the right – “is the pile of those who will not be attending the trial. And this one –“ she pointed to the one on the left – “is the pile of those who will. Once I'm done, I'll separate this one into those who will go onto the stand, and those who will just witness.”

“It doesn't look as though you have that many you want at the trial,” he stated.

“I'm being very picky. I don't want more than ten students there,” she said. Five for witness, and five for going onto the stand. I do not want anymore than that. Add in that two spots of those ten are automatically taken, and, well...”

“Which two?” he asked.

“The person who wrote the letter, for one, and Mr. Potter,” she said. “He suffered the most detentions with her – I have the feeling he'll be lucky if the scars it's most likely left fade enough for him not to be reminded about why he has them.”

Demitri nodded his head, and then yawned.

“Go get some sleep,” she ordered.

“Yes, Ma'am,” he said, pointing towards a corner of the room. He waved his wand to make a futon appear, and then, pulling off his ICW robes and shoes, he laid down in his plain jeans and shirt, and closed his eyes, falling into a light rest. Tristelianna shook her head, knowing that, if she needed him, she could wake him, and waved her wand so that the area he was in wouldn't be disturbed once the rest of her team arrived, then went back to the interviews, sighing as she did so – she needed at least four more for the going to be at the trial pile, and she really hoped that it didn't take much longer. She was really hoping to be able to have it done before they went to Hogwarts, to have the trial letters ready to give to them – it was one of the first things that were going to happen after the announcement of her being the Minister. If she was lucky, whoever it was that got put in charge of the Black case could bring him in for a trial as well – considering what one of the charges he had on him was, she thought it be fitting for Mr. Potter to be there, to have some answers. If anyone deserved it, it was him.

Unfortunately for her, she ended up getting interrupted once again, this time by the six late arrivals that consisted of the rest of her team. The weary looking group trudged into the door, yawning tiredly as they did so. Tristelianna stood up, walking towards them, and giving each a hug, before leaning against the desk, and speaking to them. It didn't take long for her to outline what it was she needed them for – unlike the preliminary, and majority part of her group that came with her – their jobs were strictly dealing with educational things.

It didn't take long for them to agree with her – in fact, for two of them, they were more than happy with what it was that she wanted for them. Once their briefing was done, along with the orders of when she was hoping to be able to do all of this, hey headed out of the room, towards where the others of their group were at, and Tristelianna was able to go back to interview reports from Hogwarts, and within another hour, managed to finish them.

“Finally,” she muttered, then with waved her wand to make another futon appear, right next to Demitri's. Once she was done, she laid down, and took a short nap of her own.


End file.
